Gosh I hate running into people I know when I am dressed like the frumpiest frumpy thing ever. Mortifying.

We had to go to the Devil (read: Walmart) tonight to find some trackies and trainers for the kid’s gym class. It’s feckin’ hot out, I don’t really want to leave my nice cold place but because she gives me the big, adorable puppydog eyes, I relent – that and I don’t want the poor girl to wear borrowed gym clothes from the stash the teachers keep *shudder* That could scar her for life.

So I chuck my hair in a pony with an ugly green scrunchy and throw on my comfy, usually-wouldn’t-wear-them-in-public, dirt brown sweats. But I’m only going to walmart which is nearby. We’ll be in and out.

But I can’t resist the bargain DVD bin. And that’s where I find two of my favourite coworkers. *sigh* Of course I’m sure they couldn’t really care less about my frumpy attire. They’re cool people. It’s just different when you know you’ll never see your average walmart shopper ever again in your whole life. Then you don’t really care.

And I couldn’t find a DVD either.

Anyway, my sister and I are working on a new approach to a healthier lifestyle for the both of us. Even though we live 1500 miles apart, through the miracle of the internets we’re able to help each other stay motivated. Every night we list off to each other every single thing we’ve eaten throughout the day. We’ve both made a pact not to zip through a drive-through just because it’s convenient. We’re going to share healthy recipes and encourage each other to get out and exercise (though I will, of course, be dressed in a jaunty workout outfit from now on.)

I think the most important component of this plan is the keeping track of what we’ve eaten. It has the unintentional effect of a little bit of guilt 🙂 And I’d rather put up with some minor guilt than cave and feel even more guilt by going to McD’s. Having to account for myself to my sister (who would never embarrass me but would be there to raise the proverbial eyebrow at me) has already stopped me twice now from giving in to temptation.

I’m not yet eating 100% healthily – but I’m more conscious of my choices when I go grocery shopping. I get the whole wheat bread instead of white. Bags of grapes. Lemonade, tea and water instead of soda. I’m preparing stuff at home to have at work instead of running through a drive-thru. I stopped using the excuse of not wanting to cook after working all day.

So I feel pretty good right now. Well apart from my fashion-challenged foray to walmart. But the thing that sometimes gets difficult is I work in a office full of people who bring ‘treats’ and these treats are never the good for you kind. It’s hard to resist on days like that. I’ve managed so far but man I’d kill for someone to bring in a huge bowl of grapes, strawberries and pineapple chunks instead of summer sausage, cheese and pie.

So anyway, wish me and my sister luck in our endeavour. We’re both pretty excited about it.

I don’t say ‘Bollocks’ nearly enough. It’s such a fabulous word. Bollocks. Bollocks bollocks bollocks. Car salesmen are full of bollocks. Snakes on a plane? Bollocks.

Just kidding. Snakes on a Plane was hella fun. Yes I said ‘hella.’ What of it?

So what’s with all the bollocks? One of my netflix movies that just arrived was “Never mind the Bollocks,” a sort of rockumentary on the Sex Pistols. I used to have a huge black and white poster of Sid Vicious on my bedroom wall. I thought he was the epitome of cool. So rock and roll. So punk. He’s the reason I’ve got a leather jacket tucked away in my closet and that to this day I have a weak spot for guys who wear Docs or combat boots.

Yeah yea, heroin overdose, he couldn’t play bass for shit blah blah blah. I didn’t care about that. I just wanted to look that cool and listen to Johnny Rotten belt out ‘God Save the Queen.’

Watching this doc I’d forgotten how freaking… freaky Johnny Rotten was. He frightened me then and I have to say he still does. I love him. Love everything he did after the Pistols. But the intense, freaky eyes… Eep!

Anyway yeah it was a nice trip down Teenage ScareHerParents Street tonight. I think I scared the kid as well when I showed her Johnny doing ‘EMI.’ It may frighten her more than Snakes on a Plane.

Or I could just be talking bollocks.

So Blogger’s beta testing a shiny update according to Blogger Buzz. Man it’s like Christmas for geeks! Categories! New templates! Comment Feeds oh my! They’re rolling it out slowly to only certain blogs and it doesn’t look like I get to be one of them, damnit. I want new toys!

/nerd

Speaking of Christmas… Every day (well every day that the mail comes) has been like Christmas for me. I finally decided what to spend the last of my Amazon bday gift card on: A bunch of books. I’ve been inspired by Charlotte’s living room filled with books. I have a lot of books myself, and they’re scattered everywhere. And I’ve read 95% of them. Some, several times. So between the drooling over C’s living room and the need for new reading material, I went a little nuts on Amazon.

Here’s what I bought:
Crime & Punishment
Jon Stewart’s ‘America: A Citizen’s guide’
Catcher in the Rye
The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Buffalo Girls – McMurtry
Undaunted Courage – Ambrose. A Lewis and Clark book.
Ireland – Frank Delaney
The Great Gatsby

A. I’m trying to read some “classic” literature. I never read much of the classics in school. At least, not the usual stuff. And I’ve never bothered as an adult. Which I think is shameful.
B. I’m still on a Montana high 🙂 I’m interested in reading more about the L&C expedition.

So yay, I’m well on my way to my own comfy living room filled with lovely lovely books. They’ve all mostly arrived, I’ve got plenty to read (I do not like being without a book going) and I’m chuffed.

I actually had a lot more books on that list as I happily sifted through the new & used ‘bin.’ I was buying books left and right for 50 cents, $1.35, $2.99. It was awesome.

Until I hit the checkout button and was hit with a HUGE shipping and handling cost. Let’s just say the S&H was nearly twice the actual cost of all the books. Eep! So I reluctantly had to put some away. It was sad.

So I’m off now. I’m in the middle of Ireland 🙂

Well this is it. In a few minutes I have to go to bed. In a few hours I have to get up, shower and head back to work. *sigh*

I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t want to go 🙂 I’m sorry work peoples. I have enjoyed this vacation far too much. Even these few days just vegging at home recuperating from the trip. Ahhhh it’s been lovely. My house is still all cleanish from before we left so I’ve had minimal household chores to do so it was just a matter of unpacking, relaxing, reading, a little grocery shopping, a few hours at the pool and voila – tense-free Melia.

We drove back from Montana last Friday. We were going to get a motel in Valentine, Nebby but when Jo mentioned GI is only 211 miles away we thought it was silly not to just push through.

Well let me tell you, 211 miles in broad daylight doesn’t seem nearly as far as it does late at night. We didn’t get in until around 1:30am. We left Great Falls, MT at 6:30am that morning. God I was knackered. Jo was knackered. Shannon was out like a light. It was rough but we did it. And it was nice knowing I didn’t have to drive again Saturday (poor Jo though had another 100 miles to go.)

Spooky was still alive when we got home so that was good. She remained glued to our side for the next few days though. I think she missed us.

And now the time has come. Time to get back into the rut routine. Work. Home. Work. Home. *yawn*

Gnight.

Soon we’ll be heading home. This much-needed vacation is all too quickly coming to an end. It seems like I was waiting forever for the time to come when we could hit the open road and see what there was to see in an unexplored (by me) part of the country. And now it’s almost over.

The kidlet and I have had such a brilliant time of it up here. Everything about the trip has exceeded my expectations in just about every way. Pardon me for a moment while I get all mushy.

I looked forward to this trip not only as a chance to see a part of the country I’d never been to before but also as a chance to spend time with my new-found family and see what their life is like up close and personal on their home grounds. I have known them now for about five years but most of the time the communication has been via Internet and phone calls with the occasional flying visit from Gary and wonderful few weekends in Lincoln at Jo’s. This trip seemed a good opportunity for a little familial bonding.

I can’t express enough gratitude and love and warmth to Gary, Jo and family, Charlotte and family, and Nora for letting us into their lives they way they have. It means ever so much to me and to my daughter and we love you all dearly.

/mush

This past week up at the cabin has been a blast. I hand-fed deer for quite some time last night as a group of about 8 of them wandered into the yard looking for treats. Such beautiful animals. I really do love wildlife even though I’m not very much inclined to the outdoors. I used to think I wasn’t really made to be an outdoorsy type, but now I’m just wondering if I’m not outdoorsy because I haven’t really had much in the way of opportunity to be one in my life. I never camped much growing up and if I did it was in my aunt’s cabin at a reservoir that had all of the comforts of home. No roughing it etc.

I do detest bugs though and while I feel I made progress in regards to not shrieking like a banshee when I discovered a daddy long-legs in the shower with me or flailing about like some spastic moron when a bee hovered nearby, I still wish bugs could be eradicated without upsetting the delicate balance of nature. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside with my book and listening to the creek, feeling the occasional mountain breeze (according to Gary, the mountains “breathe.” In the evenings, the breeze would come from the direction of the mountain behind the cabin and this was the mountain “exhaling.” I like that thought.) I didn’t even realize it until last night but I have not watched a single thing on television since I left GI over a week ago. Didn’t even miss it.

I didn’t know how enjoyable it is to have everyone just sort of gather around a fire in the evenings and just chat, toast ‘shmallows, and feed the occasional duck that waddles by. For anyone reading this that might do this all the time, well you’re lucky and I hope you appreciate it. For anyone who might scoff at the thought, well… don’t knock it. I’m well-rested, I’ve learned a great deal about my family that makes me love ’em even more, and I’ve seen extraordinarily beautiful things this past week and a half.

This is also the first vaca I’ve sort of “live-blogged.” I’m looking forward to being able to look back on this blog and these photos in the Roadtripping gallery and relive my first foray into this wild, fascinating part of the country.

Finally, I just want to thank Jo for making the trip with us – it’s been wonderful getting to spend all this time with you, Gary for taking us to the best places in Montana and for just being with us – it’s been such a lovely time for us, truly, Charlotte for letting us stay in her beautiful home and making the best brownies ever 🙂 and the lovely Miss Nora for hanging out with us even though she should be preparing for college in a month 🙂

Just some photos and video updates 🙂

Nora feeding the deer:

Picking huckleberries on the side of a mountain:

The view from the middle of the creek in front of the cabin:

Shannon and Nora wading in the creek:

Flaming Marshmallow Man:

Montana is beautiful. There’s no other word for it. Even the dry, tan and brown prairies on the eastern side of the state have a sort of romantic edge to them. I had no trouble imagining cattle herders and pioneers fording creeks and rivers to get to prime grazing land.

We hung out in Great Falls most of the day on Friday, even popping off to the cinema to see Pirates. Fun movie, lots of winks and nods to the rides, barely a plot but who cares. I could watch Johnny Depp as Captain Jack all day. Then after burgers and Nebraska corn we packed up and headed for the cabin in the mountains.

Lots of rolling hills with hazy peaks of the mountains in the distance. Because of the wildfires the horizon has been tinged with the haziness from the smoke. Sunsets are fiery orange and red filtered through it which is spectacular. But it does sort of impede the view. Then again, it also gives you an idea of depth and how far or close the mountains are compared to the rolling foothills at their feet.

We passed a couple of nuclear warhead silos (underground) and I took a picture of one, fully expecting to hear helicopters after us from being caught on their cameras taking photos of it 🙂 no such luck because that would have made for some excellent photos 🙂

Finally arriving in Lincoln at dusk. Lincoln’s a tiny town of about 4 or 500 people. Spring Creek passes right in front of the cabin. We waded out in it for a few minutes but *shiver* it’s cold enough to cramp up your toes pretty quickly.

After depositing bags and food we grabbed some beers and sat outside for several hours just chatting and having a good time. We plotted out the course for the next day and then headed for bed.

In the morning, we rose early and headed off for Helena where we were going to hit the Farmer’s Market, a bread store that’s supposed to be really good, and to stop by a friend of gary’s to pick up some books on CD.

Going to Helena involved a trip through Flesher Pass and tall pines and huge peaks with great names like the Sleeping Giant:

See his profile and chest? He’s either pretty buff, or it’s really the Sleeping Giantess.

Bread shop was yummy, Farmer’s Market was ok. We got the veggies we needed and Gary’s friends weren’t home. That was OK. Helena is a cool city, even with the yuppies everywhere 🙂 Gorgeous old mansions from cattle barons and senators that manage to look stately and rustic at the same time.

Our last stop for the day was a place called Gates of the Mountains which is an opening along the Missouri River that flows between the mountains… Actually, it’s hard to describe how amazing they are. We took a boat tour about 6 miles down the river from the Gates with a colourful tour guide who told us everything from the time period of the oldest rocks in the cliffs to the meanings of some of the ancient Native American shamanic pictographs found in a depression along the cliff walls. We spotted some bald eagles who had not reached maturity and learned about a devastating and fast fire that killed 13 smokejumpers in 1945.

The day was brutally hot though and that put the kibosh on our plans to picnic at the other end of the boat ride, so we returned back to the marina and headed back to the cabin. We grilled Beer Baron sausages (made in Great Falls) in the fire pit and later in the evening we did the S’more thang 🙂 Mmmmmmmm…

Here is Flaming Marshmallow Man:

Early night after that so we could get up early and go Huckleberry picking.